365 Simple Pleasures. Susannah Seton

see. You can still read the newspaper, but remember to listen to new sounds and conversation and enjoy the smells that only breakfast provides.

      MARCH 19

      SENSUAL BATH

      This bath feels luxurious beyond belief.

      2 drops cedar essential oil

      2 drops clary sage essential oil

      2 drops lavender essential oil

      2 drops orange essential oil

      2 tablespoons vegetable oil

      Combine all oils and pour the mixture into the stream of a warm bath.

      MARCH 20

      INSTANT GOURMET

      You can easily make your own flavored olive oils. Buy some decorative bottles or use recycled wine bottles. Be sure to use only fresh herbs, to wash them well, to make sure the oil completely covers all the ingredients, and to seal the bottle tightly and use within three weeks. Because garlic contains the spores for a bacteria that, when added to oil, can cause botulism, it’s best not to make any garlic-flavored oil (the store-bought kind uses sterilized garlic.) To make chili oil, simply add 5 yellow Thai chilies and 1 teaspoon peppercorns to 5 cups of olive oil, cap the bottle tightly, and let stand in a cool place for a week. For lemon pepper oil, slice a lemon for each bottle you plan to make and dry in oven at 170⁰ for about 5 hours, or until dry but not crisp. To a bottle of oil, add 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns and the slices from one dried lemon. For rosemary oil, add 3 large sprigs of rosemary to a bottle of olive oil.

      MARCH 21

      INDULGE IN DINNER

      It’s easy to get the winter blues. I remember when I lived in Ithaca, New York, it could be overcast for six weeks or more at a time during the winter. By March I was really down. So to combat the winter blues, take the opportunity tonight to indulge yourself with a really good dinner. Make your favorite food. Buy fresh flowers, use cloth napkins, light a scented candle. Go all out for no other reason than to enjoy yourself.